Jim Sheedy An Appreciation   You are in · RoscreaOnline · Community · People Profiles

As the evening of Sunday, March the 13th was bringing a grey and un-remarkable mid-Spring day in Roscrea to a close, a terrible sense of loss enveloped the town when the news of the unexpected death of Jim Sheedy in Nenagh Hospital spread rapidly.

Only six days previously Jim had resigned his position as secretary of Roscrea juvenile hurling club after twenty-two years of unstinting service. But, of course, as he had done for twenty-five years, he would continue to pace the sidelines, offering a quiet word of encouragement or a sharper call to action whenever any of the club's under-age teams were playing. How wrong that assumption turned out to be.

Jim came from Portroe to Roscrea in 1977 to take up a teaching position in the Boy's School (now Scoil Eoin), A true child of the 70's in appearance, style and outlook, he soon proved himself a teacher of substance with a passionate interest in Gaelic games, especially hurling. By the early 80's he was involved with Roscrea under age hurling teams and in addition to his duties as secretary, he organised, trained, selected, encouraged, consoled and celebrated with the club's young players. The full extent of the work he put in during these years will only now be fully appreciated when he is no longer around to carry the burden.

Jim was first and foremost a Portroe man- deriving immense satisfaction from the fact that, his club's senior hurling team could hold its own with Tipp's best. As a player Jim won North and County championships with the club's intermediate hurling teams. Later he acted as selector/trainer with Portroe senior teams and was terribly proud that brothers, John and Liam, wore the Blue and Gold of Tipperary with distinction. No matter how we tormented or persuaded, we could not shake Jim's primary allegiance to his native club. The best we managed was to get him to represent (successfully) Roscrea in Scr Question Time! Nevertheless, loyalty to Portroe never prevented Jim from investing huge amounts of his time and energy in laying the foundations of what we hope, will be another successful era for our club. It was only fitting that the red and white of Roscrea should be draped with the green and gold of Portroe on his coffin.

For more than twenty years Jim represented Roscrea on Brd na ng. He also served on North Tipperary Primary Schools Board. One of his proudest achievements was, in 1990, when Roscrea Boy's School won the Roinn A Hurling Title. In recent years he was a familiar figure as one of referee Johnny McDonnell's umpires. In 2003, together with Willie Stapleton, another great stalwart of underage hurling in Roscrea, Jim received a Roscrea People of the Year Award for his contribution to sport in the town.

Jim's funeral was one of the largest in the area for many years, as huge numbers of mourners, not alone from Portroe and Roscrea, but also from other clubs of North Tipperary and further afield, accompanied him to his final resting place. Guards of honour from Roscrea and Portroe clubs, Roscrea Juvenile Hurling club, Roscrea INTO Branch and the pupils of Scoil Eoin lined the route to the church. Fellow selectors Tadhg O' Connor and Willie Stapleton, as well as two of the more successful recent graduates of Roscrea's under-age hurling academy, John Carroll and Diarmuid Fitzgerald took part in his funeral mass, celebrated by Fr. Colm Hogan, who delivered a very moving tribute. It was noticeable that large numbers of young people attended the ceremonies. Many were acknowledging their debt to a teacher, a hurling coach and a friend.

It is difficult for us to accept that when we visit St. Cronan's Park, no more will we hear the cheerful greeting, the latest hurling gossip or the witty remark that sent one's brain frantically scrambling for the quick riposte. Our loss is great, both on a hurling and on a personal level. The enormity of the void left by Jim's untimely passing in the lives of his wife and children, his mother and brothers we can scarcely begin to imagine. We offer them our sincerest sympathies.

May the sod of his beloved Tipperary rest lightly on him. May he rest in peace.